Pages

Friday, 16 June 2017

This week at Valley Press, #59: 'Forever, Now'

Dear readers,

I'd like to start today's mailout by announcing a book we're publishing in five months' time; both author and publisher are far too excited to keep it under wraps. Forever, Now will be the first collection of poetry by celebrated crime writer Helen Cadbury – you can read more about the book here (including mini-reviews by Carole Bromley, Antony Dunn and James Nash) and a sample poem can be found here.

You might think it odd that, when introducing someone's poetry, I would mention their success in a very different literary genre... but in this case it can't be avoided, such is the stir Helen has caused since starting her career in crime (so to speak). I usually find that great novelists make great poets; they bring an economy with words (counter-intuitively), strong narratives and carefully-drawn characters, and those who've read Forever, Now so far have agreed that's very much the case here.

The front cover image was taken by Helen herself (we love to get authors involved in their design), and the title comes from Emily Dickinson's quote that 'forever is comprised of nows' – though begins to mean a lot more as you progress through the poems. You'll be hearing a lot more about this book in the coming months, but for now, consider yourselves well and truly introduced.

* * *

Second piece of news: after toying with the idea of running some lunchtime events in Scarborough this summer, I've now gone ahead and booked them. They'll be happening at Woodend, 1-2pm on a Thursday afternoon for six weeks. Here's what I've got lined up:

on August 10th, James Nash will be sharing his classic sonnets and some brand new ones, as well as discussing nine years of Valley Press history with myself.

on August 17th, Helen Burke will be celebrating the release of her Collected Poems, performing highlights from forty-eight years of writing.

on August 24th, a selection of Yorkshire Anthology contributors will be taking a trip through that marvellous volume, led by co-editor Oz Hardwick.

on September 7th, Cath Nichols will be launching her new collection of poetry This is Not a Stunt (more on that in a future newsletter).

on September 14th ... author to be confirmed, watch this space.

I hope some of that sounds tempting. It's £5 to attend, or £4 concession, and you can book the complete series of six for £25 (or £20 concession). Tickets can only be purchased from the Woodend reception, or by calling them on 01723 384500.

In the past I've often been heard to say, somewhat snootily, 'Valley Press is not an events company', and have stuck religiously to the view that publishing a new book is a noble cause that creates an everlasting achievement... while events are fun for an evening and then they're gone. Recently I've come to realise how narrow-minded this is, which brings us to today's third piece of news: the appointment of Vanessa Simmons to the new post of 'Events Manager' at Valley Press.

Vanessa spent nine years as the Events and Communications Officer at York St John University, and handily has a BA and an MA in Literature Studies, so really knows her way around the literary world. Her key missions are 1) to arrange many more events for VP authors, and 2) to improve the quality of existing events... she has some big ideas. In our first conversation about the role, we concluded that publishing a book was like installing a streetlamp, while running an event was like letting off some fireworks; and from now on, Valley Press will be doing both.

* * *

The last thing I wanted to mention is that the increasingly infamous Madame B has now leapt from the pages of her eponymous book and made it onto Twitter. You can 'follow' her unique worldview in 140-character form here, and of course the book (and its luxury hardback twin) can be found here.

Next week: a few words from Tess, our Submissions Coordinator, on how things have been going in that department since she swept in to work her magic...